Groupthink

today was not very proactive at all in getting anywhere, but on the bright side all this poem work has been helpful in my preparation for the AP exam.

Gridlock

"Let America Be America Again" Vendler Grid

Meaning	America has never been truly the land of equality, prosper and freedom, but one full of oppression, discrimination, and injustices.
Antecedent Scenario	Basically America's not so clean past history
Structural Parts	A very large part of the author's structure in his poem is the use of anaphora's to emphasize his opinion of our America. And also just like every other poem similes and metaphors play an immense part of the author's structure.
Climax	The climax is reached in the 12th  stanza in which the author questions who was the one to say America was the land of the free.
Other Parts	The beginning of the poem is where the narrator asks what happened to the America of before free and equal but with his conscious repeating it was never free for him. After this point the narrator addresses this conscious voice that states itself basically as all the discrimination and inequality of America. After the climax is reached he ends with that although America was never what it thought it was to be, it can and will be achieved.

Skeleton	The narrator after speaking of the good old America of past is retorted by what I believe is his own subconsciousness stating that America has never been great. His subconscious explains this with a wide group of demographics including immigrants, whites, blacks, and indians. Though in the end the his mood changes to one of confidence, in how he believes America will be great.
Content Genre- games	I would say this is a reflective poem. My reasoning for this is that the narrator takes an idea that is taken by fact or agreed on by many and then counters the statement with examples that prove it wrong. So in the poem the land of the freedom and equality, is actually one full of oppression and inequality since its founding such as slavery, taking the land of natives, discrimination of immigrant, and blue collar workers.
Tone	cynical
Agency
Roads Not Taken	I could see this poem as its inverse with the narrator stating it is corrupt, and his subconscious retorting with all the reasons why it is not, but it wouldn't be as popular to the overall public.
Speech Acts	The poem has certain lines where the narrator addresses the reader like "The free? Who said the free?  Not me?", that allow the author to connect his point of view with the reader by interacting with him directly.
Outer and Inner Structural Forms	The poem is very lengthy and uses repitition in the form of many anaphoras to form a parrallel structure. The poem also addresses the reader directly through retorical questions that the author answers quickly.
Imagination	there is not much fictional imagination in this poem, but more of facts that are used in analysis of a statement.

Seventh Reading

Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes

After the first reading of this poem I knew I had to use it, and after a few more reads my understanding of it just kept getting so much clearer. The poem basically focused around the irony of America being the land of the free when in fact their has been inequality and oppression throughout all its history.

(There's never been equality for me,

Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free)

The more I read it the more certain literary techniques would appear to me such as the many anaphora's the author uses to describe his point such as "It was never America to me" and "Let it be..."

Fahrenheit 451 Multiple choice

1.     Before meeting Clarisse Mclellan how does Montag feel about his job as a fireman?
A. Angry
B. Confused
C. Happy
D. Excited
2. How does Clarisse first describe herself as to Montag?
A. Seventeen and Crazy
B. Seventeen and obnoxious
C. Mature and Serious
D. Evil
3. How does Mildred address her attempted suicide the morning after with Montag?
A. remorseful
B. Denial
C. Happiness
D. Depression
4. Why is Montag different from the other fireman as stated by Clarisse?
A. He does not listen to her
B. He listens to her
C. He yells at her
D. He creates fires
5. "The Hound half rose in its kennel and looked at him with green-blue neon light
flickering in its suddenly activated eyebulbs. It growled again, a strange rasping
combination of electrical sizzle, a frying sound, a scraping of metal, a turning of cogs
that seemed rusty and ancient with suspicion.
"No, no, boy," said Montag, his heart pounding.
He saw the silver needle extended upon the air an inch, pull back, extend, pull back.
The growl simmered in the beast and it looked at him."  In the novel this is an example of?
A. Allegory
B. Metaphor
C. Foreshadowing
D. Tone
6. How did the firemen know which houses had books?
A. The books all had bar codes on the back covers. These could be read for up to one mile
              away by a special computerized track.
B. Neighbors, family members, and friends became informants and telephoned the authorities.
C. They conducted random searches.
D. The fire dogs could sniff them out.
7. . What did Montag do in the old lady's attic?
a. He took a book.
b. He sat and cried.
c. He destroyed all of her old family pictures.
d. He took a nap

8. "One drop of rain. Clarisse. Another drop. Mildred. A third. The uncle. A fourth. The
fire tonight. One, Clarisse. Two, Mildred. Three, uncle. Four, fire, One, Mildred, two,
Clarisse. One, two, three, four, five, Clarisse, Mildred, uncle, fire, sleeping-tablets,
men, disposable tissue, coat-tails, blow, wad, flush, Clarisse, Mildred, uncle, fire,
tablets, tissues, blow, wad, flush. One, two, three, one, two, three! Rain. The storm." Identify the literary technique used in this quote?
A. Allusion
B. Mood
C. Motif
D. Anaphora

9. “It was a pleasure to burn.
It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.
With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history.” Describe the characters mood in this excerpt.
A. Hateful
B. Jealous
C. Pleasure
D. Respectful
10. How was Clarisse killed?
A. By the hound
B. She was hit by a car
C. Ninjas
D. The fireman burnt her and her house down together
11. What is the overall theme of the story?
A. Revenge
B. What goes around comes around
C. Enlightenment
D. Happily ever after

12. Her face was slender and milk-white, and in it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched over everything with tireless curiosity. It was a look, almost, of pale surprise; the dark eyes were so fixed to the world that no move escaped them. Her dress was white and it whispered. This is an example of:
A. Indirect characterization
B. Direct characterization
C. Simile
D. Characterization

13. Who was Faber?
A. He was Montag's brother-in-law, and another sympathizer.
B. He was second in command after Beatty.
C. He was a retired English professor.
D. He was the chief physician at Emergency Hospital.

14. Why did Montag go to see Faber?
A. He needed a duplicate copy of the stolen book before he returned the original to Captain Beatty.
B. Faber had been a friend of Montag's wife's family. Montag thought Faber could give him advice about how to help his wife.
C. He wanted Faber to translate the books that were not in English.
D. He wanted to get information about others who had books. He thought that giving the information to Beatty might help his career.

15. What did Montag and the intellectual hobos believe their mission to be once the war was ended?
A. They wanted to learn from previous mistakes and always to remember.
B. They wanted to convert any survivors to their way of thinking.
C. They wanted to teach everyone how to read.
D. They wanted to pursue and kill any remaining firemen so they couldn't start burning books again.

Fahrenheit 451 Literary Techniques

Imagery- "The Hound half rose in its kennel and looked at him with green-blue neon light
flickering in its suddenly activated eyebulbs. It growled again, a strange rasping
combination of electrical sizzle, a frying sound, a scraping of metal, a turning of cogs
that seemed rusty and ancient with suspicion.
"No, no, boy," said Montag, his heart pounding.
He saw the silver needle extended upon the air an inch, pull back, extend, pull back.
The growl simmered in the beast and it looked at him."  The imagery that Bradbury uses in this novel is quiet detailed making this book a great read. The description of the hound is what really sticks with me from the novels many images.

Anaphora- "One drop of rain. Clarisse. Another drop. Mildred. A third. The uncle. A fourth. The
fire tonight. One, Clarisse. Two, Mildred. Three, uncle. Four, fire, One, Mildred, two,
Clarisse. One, two, three, four, five, Clarisse, Mildred, uncle, fire, sleeping-tablets,
men, disposable tissue, coat-tails, blow, wad, flush, Clarisse, Mildred, uncle, fire,
tablets, tissues, blow, wad, flush. One, two, three, one, two, three! Rain. The storm."    I liked this anaphora in the mainly because the author uses the repetition of one, two, three to express the tormenting thoughts that Montag replays in his head after his wife Mildred's attempted suicide that are the beginning to Montag's enlightenment.

Allegory- This whole novel can be seen as an altered version of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in where their both stories where the protagonists find enlightenment.

Theme- The theme that I found in the novel was the journey to enlightenment, as Montag is unaware of the reality of his society until his encounter the with Clarisse. This encounter is what causes Montag to question the shadows that his society portrays as images and to push to find the truth.

Tone- The overall tone of the book is very suspenseful, and thrilling as Montag's constant internal questioning causes you to sit at the edge of your seat as it foreshadows much of what you believe to happen.

Mood- I would say the mood is dark in its descriptions of the joy of burning books and a lethal, venom injecting hound, but also hopeful with the descriptions of Clarisse, the past, and of books.

Diction- The diction the author uses is relatively simple nothing like Shakespeare's complex structure but much of it is of words to describe certain images that make you feel like you are watching the book unfold on a screen.

Allusion- The book to me was an allusion to Plato's allegory of the Cave as described before in the literary technique, allegory.

Foreshadowing-  "The Hound half rose in its kennel and looked at him with green-blue neon light
flickering in its suddenly activated eyebulbs. It growled again, a strange rasping
combination of electrical sizzle, a frying sound, a scraping of metal, a turning of cogs
that seemed rusty and ancient with suspicion.
"No, no, boy," said Montag, his heart pounding.
He saw the silver needle extended upon the air an inch, pull back, extend, pull back.
The growl simmered in the beast and it looked at him." This incident foreshadows Montag's future encounter with the hound as a fugitive on the run.

Fahrenheit 45l Prose Questions

1. Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" shares a similar sense of enlightenment in its main character as seen in Ray Bradbury's protagonist Guy Montag. Write a well-organized essay in which you discuss the similarities of the two.
2. Frequently a work of literature will revolve around a major transformation in a character.  This transformation can often be taken as literal or figurative.  Choose a novel (Fahrenheit 451) and write a well-organized essay in which you discuss the complexion of the transformation and its relationship to the character and the theme.
3. As seen in many modern works of literature, protagonists are not always heroic characters, but anti-heroes. A prime example of this is Ray Bradbury's Guy Montag of "Fahrenheit 451". In a well-written essay compare Guy Montag to another modern day anti-hero.
4. In both Fahrneheit 451 and "Brave New World"  antagonists such as Mr. Beatty and Mustapha Mond appear to express qualities that both go against and along with the protagonists goal in the novel. In a well-organized essay write the reasons to why the authors would allow such characters to exist in their novel's plot.

The adventures of Huckleberry Finn

General

After his adventures with Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn ends up living with Widow Douglas who although nice annoys Huck as she is very strict and religious.The novel begins with Huck being taken back by his abusive drunk father. Tired of his father and his drunk attacks Huck fakes his death and takes a raft down the Mississippi river. Looking for a hideout Huck stays at Jackson Island to hide out until news of his death dies out. At the island Huck finds Jim Mrs. Watson's slave. Jim and Huck decide to travel together and get Jim to the free states.On their way their Huck encounters various characters that cause him to mature and stop being the oblivious little boy that would pick on Jim. Though this is all destroyed at the end of the novel when Tom Sawyer returns and Huck regresses back to the dumb self-centered boy he was in the adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The major theme that I received was that of slavery and racism as through Huck's childhood innocence and influences of society show how Huck is made to believe certain racist ideologies are the correct ideologies. 

Mark Twain's tone in the book is very humorous and ironic.

 “...[Jim] would steal his children -- children that belonged to a man... a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm.”

"WELL, I got a good going-over in the morning from old Miss Watson on account of my clothes; but the widow she didn’t scold, but only cleaned off the grease and clay, and looked so sorry that I thought I would behave awhile if I could. Then Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn’t so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn’t any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn’t make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. She never told me why,and I couldn’t make it out no way."

"At first I hated the school, but by and by I got so I could stand it."

Irony: "WELL, I got a good going-over in the morning from old Miss Watson on account of my clothes; but the widow she didn’t scold, but only cleaned off the grease and clay, and looked so sorry that I thought I would behave awhile if I could. Then Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn’t so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn’t any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn’t make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. She never told me why,and I couldn’t make it out no way."

Imagery: “Miss Watson’s nigger, Jim, had a hair-ball as big as your fist, which had been took out of the fourth stomach of an ox, and he used to do magic with it.”

Satire: “...[Jim] would steal his children -- children that belonged to a man... a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm.”

Diction: “No, sir,’ I says, ‘I don’t want to spend it. I don’t want it at all — nor the six thousand, nuther. I want you to take it; I want to give it to you — the six thousand and all.”

Syntax: “No, sir,’ I says, ‘I don’t want to spend it. I don’t want it at all — nor the six thousand, nuther. I want you to take it; I want to give it to you — the six thousand and all.”

Symbolism: "I was power glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."

Hyperbole: "...he looked that grand and good and pious that you’d say he had walked right out of the ark, and maybe was old Leviticus himself."

Characterization

Direct Characterization:

“Her sister, Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now with a spelling-book.”

“They judged it was him, anyway; said this drownded man was just his size, and was ragged, and had uncommon long hair, which was all like pap; but they couldn’t make nothing out of the face, be- cause it had been in the water so long it warn’t much like a face at all.”

Indirect Characterization:

“She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up.”

“After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn’t care no more about him, because I don’t take no stock in dead people.”

“IN this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri negro dialect; the extremest form of the backwoods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary ‘Pike County’ dialect; and four modified varieties of this last. The shadings have not been done in a hap- hazard fashion, or by guesswork; but painstakingly, and with the trustworthy guidance and support of personal familiarity with these several forms of speech.I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers would suppose that all these characters were trying to talk alike and not succeeding”

Huck is very dynamic as through his adventures he puts away much of his racism and becomes friends with Jim, although at the end he reverts back to the boy he was with Mrs. Douglas.

I felt like I met a story book character as Huck’s adventures were a little too tall for me, but I do feel that I understood Twain’s critiques to society very well.